The Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country in Central Africa of approximately 71 million people. It is ranked as the fourth most populous country in Africa, and the second largest. Though the country is engulfed in beautiful rivers, mountains, and tropical forests, its history has not been so pleasant. Like most African countries, it has a long history of European interference. After the Berlin Conference in 1885 – during which European imperial powers formalized the boundaries of their colonies – King Leopold of Belgium founded the region as the Congo Free State to exploit the land's resources for his personal gain. Immediately after founding the Congo Free State, he began to build infrastructure that would help him to export the land's ivory and rubber to sell internationally. To extract these resources, he infamously subjugated the native population, forcing them to provide him with resource quotas or to face having their hands chopped off, or to be one of the many millions of native individuals who were murdered by his forces. By the early twentieth century, international reporting of Leopold's atrocities brought public shame to Belgium, and in 1908 Belgium's government finally decided to end Leopold's personal hold on the country.

In 1960, elections were held, and a Congolese native, Patrice Lumumba, was voted into power. As with many other post-independence African nations, debate ensued over whether or not Lumumba could represent the extremely diverse population of his country. Because Lumumba was a communist, and this was during the Cold War, the United States and Belgium financially supported a coup against him in 1961. The U.S. believed that by preventing communism in the DRC that they could stop the spread of communism to other African countries. In 1961 Lumumba was executed, and for several years power was held by members of the rebel group that led the coup. Then, in 1971, anti-communist Mobutu, still supported by the U.S. and Belgium, was in power, and continued to rule until further political unrest led him to flee the country in 1997. Mobutu's rule was marked by extreme government corruption, personal embezzlement of public funds, and a widespread “Cult of Personality.”

After Mobutu fled, war broke out between various groups vying for power. In this period of instability, Laurent-Desire Kabila took power for a few years until he was killed in 2001. Then his son, Joseph Kabila took power, and shortly thereafter United Nations-supported peace talks were held between the government and the rebel groups. While peace accords were in fact signed, fighting continued throughout parts of the country, and continue to this day. Much of the conflict has been attributed to various ethnic groups fighting for political influence and questioning the legitimacy of the electoral process, as well as economic control over the rich mineral resources in the East. The east is also being terrorized by Joseph Kony, leader of the rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army. Initially founded in Northern Uganda, and maintaining bases in Uganda and southern Sudan, the LRA has now moved its bases into the DRC, causing inexplicable suffering on families, and abducting countless children to be forced into serving as child soldiers. The combined influences of these rebel movements has led to millions of deaths; some due to murder, and many due simply to the lack of access to medical care, and a lack of public education regarding how to stay healthy in a conflict zone.

Because the country has such a long history of corruption and violence dating back to 19th century Belgian rule, it has been difficult for the millions of families living in the region to find peace and stability. The DRC is widely known to have the highest murder rates, the highest rape rates, the highest displacement rates, the lowest adult literacy rates (about 65%) and the lowest life expectancy (55 years) in the world. We at the Refugee Center have seen a massive influx of DRC refugees, political asylees and immigrants in the past year because of the increasingly hostile environment in the country's East.

Whether they come as refugees, asylees or immigrants, they all seek to protect their families and to have a chance at life that they cannot have in the Congo. Many have lost their livelihoods, some are illiterate, many need help with learning English and acquiring adequate housing and food. It can be hard to believe the sheer devastation these amazing people have faced in their lives; if you come and volunteer with our Congolese clients, you will see how sweet and loving they are, and you will have a bittersweet reminder of how lucky most of us are to have a safe place to call home.

Click here to watch a video made by UIUC African Studies students, which interviews several DRC people living in Champaign-Urbana about their experiences. You can also read the full interviews below the videos. Thank you to the Center for African Studies for supporting this great project, and to eBlackCU for providing a digital archive space for black history in our community.